One of the most onerous burdens for many people today is overwhelming student loan debt. Quite often it seemed very reasonable to borrow the money at the time, and the repayment felt very affordable. But then life intervened, and all of a sudden there was a WHOLE LOT of debt, and not much available money to pay it off.

That’s where I am today. I never anticipated retiring from teaching with student loan debt. When I borrowed the money, I thought I was going to stay married to the bitter end, because I really didn’t see a reasonable or practical way out. So I thought our dual income would be paying off my debt. But someone wiser than I once quipped that “life was what happened while you were busy making plans” or some such thing. And it happened to me. To add insult to injury, my quest for a master’s degree ended after my mother’s death, as I simply didn’t have the heart to finish without her.

The moral of this story is: Don’t borrow money to go to school, especially when you are old enough that your career will probably be a short one. Cash flow your classes, even if it takes longer to finish. Learn from my mistakes, so that “onerous” is only a A-Z Challenge vocabulary word, not a life experience.

Way too many students fall into the debt trap. They believe that they will be successful with a degree and it will all go away…reality is…it rarely does and it is one of the worst onerous things to bear.

And even if they do find a good job, life has a way of throwing more curves at us that “eat up” our disposable dollars. Starting out with huge student loan debt puts a young person (or in my case, a much older person) behind the 8-ball from the beginning. – Fawn

You couldn’t have put it better! It’s a shame that society condones it. The universities don’t help…they’re always trying to convince students to take extra class that they don’t need. Extra classes cost extra bucks and that’s all the universities are interested in, not the financial welfare of their students.

You know a country that doesn’t invest in the education of its people is destined for problems in the future. I’m not saying you shouldn’t pay something for your own education, but it shouldn’t be as devastating as it is today. Unfortunately our governments have sold us out. Have a listen to “Sold Out” in the album Osaka Time.
Leslie

My first time around in college, before dropping out my senior year, a summer school class that had to be fully self-supported by tuition cost $43.00 per unit. That same class today would be about $350.00 per unit. Onerous for sure. – Fawn

A happy, self-indulgent space where I write things for YOU to read! These things I write about include life, travel, first world problems, myself and other people. Sometimes I try to be funny, but mostly I'm not.